Traditional Maltese cooking
Imqaret
Diamond-shaped fried pastries filled with a spiced date paste, a popular Maltese sweet treat often sold at festas and street stalls.
Ingredients
- 300g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 75ml olive oil
- 100ml water (approx.)
- Pinch of salt
- 400g pitted dates, chopped
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp ground aniseed
- Zest of 1 orange
- Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Steps
- 1
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, then rub in the olive oil. Gradually add water to form a firm, smooth dough. Rest for 30 minutes.
- 2
Gently heat the chopped dates with the mixed spice, aniseed and orange zest until they soften into a thick, spreadable paste. Leave to cool.
- 3
Roll the dough out thinly and cut into long strips.
- 4
Spoon a line of the date paste along the centre of each strip, fold the dough over to enclose it, and seal the edges.
- 5
Cut the filled strips into diamond shapes.
- 6
Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan and fry the imqaret in batches until golden and crisp.
- 7
Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm.